This is one of the creatures that's demolishing our horseradish plant. Could it be an offspring of the Cabbage White butterfly that I saw almost two weeks ago? If so, it grew really fast! It's the only caterpillar I can see on the plant, but as you can tell, it's going to town.
It may be the lone survivor, partly because I decided to intervene and kill off some of the eggs laid by the butterfly. The day after I watched it lay those eggs, I plucked many of them off with tweezers, which wasn't easy because they were incredibly tiny. I left some behind, too, but the poor plant just isn't very big and couldn't have sustained all those caterpillars if they'd all hatched. Call me a caterpillar murderer. I tried to walk the Middle Path.
(Besides, the Cabbage White came back later and laid some more. I left those alone. It was like fighting Niagara.)
We'll see what happens to this guy (and his siblings, if there are any). With the weather getting chilly, I can't imagine he'll have much more time to grow before he needs to crawl into the ground -- or wherever -- and pupate, or hibernate, or a combination of the two.
It's a science project!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at the Middle Path - you're too funny :)
ReplyDeleteWe saw evidence of a tomato worm on our tomato plants but we never could find the worm. I was disappointed - tomato season is about done & it would have been fun to watch him (her?) go to town.
Don't worry about the horseradish, a whole new plant will sprout from an inch of root. At least at my house it does. I have a small passion flower vine that regularly get demolished by caterpillars.
ReplyDeleteIf that little guy was any other colour than it's very pretty green I think that it might have to be put outside. The only wild life I keep in the house through the winter are spiders- They are intelligent! Have you heard about our new plague- Zombi bees! Poor bees!Love the middle path...hahahaha
ReplyDeleteGreat macro shot of your caterpillar! He has a very big appetite. Your poor horseradish plant! :(
ReplyDeleteHe is indeed going to town on that leaf. Maybe you could trans plant him somewhere else, like the park. LOL
ReplyDeleteM